Indiana women improve to 10-0

Will Padgett

12/11/2013

In their final home game before the new year, the Hoosiers stood strong against a tough shooting opponent.

Two nights, two games, two guards, and two very similar performances.

A night after Evan Gordon went off for 26 points against Oakland, freshman Larryn Brooks did her best to top the graduate transfer on the men's squad, putting up 27 points as the Indiana women took down Milwaukee, 87-68.

The biggest stat from the starter was her light's-out shooting from long range. Brooks hit 7-of-9 3-point shots, which ties her for the third most in a single game in program history.

"It was just my team getting me the ball, working the inside-out game," Brooks said. "The balance from the team was great. It wasn't about me hitting threes, it was about the team sharing the ball."

Brooks wasn't the only one to have a big night. Fellow freshman starter Taylor Agler lit up the stat sheet, pulling in seven rebounds, leading the team with five assists, and recording four steals, tying her career high. Sasha Chaplin was also able to get back to her double-digit scoring ways, pitching in 16 points, following performances where she was only able to put up six and eight points.

"I think the ball bounced my way a little more tonight," Agler said. "I try to go for the steals in other games, but don't get them."

The game was extremely fast-paced from the start, and it was Indiana that came out of the gate gunning, as it rode buckets from Chaplin and Alexis Gassion to an 8-3 lead in under three minutes.

While the Hoosiers' lead was never given up, that didn't mean Milwaukee wasn't going to go down without a fight.

After Indiana extended the lead to 13 at the half, the Panthers began to chip away in the second half, taking what was a 24-point deficit and bringing it all way back to 12. They used a 16-4 run to cut the deficit.

"We didn't defend them too well," IU coach Curt Miller said. "We talked about trying to guard the arc. We are number one in the Big Ten in guarding the arc. [Three-point shooting] is Milwaukee's strength and they got away from us a little bit, to their credit.

But it wasn't long after that the Hoosiers found their feet again, and surged forward by outscoring Milwaukee 16-11 to close out the game.

Miller mentioned that this team has now won all of its non-conference home games, as it sits at 10-0, exceeding last season's win total outside the Big Ten by one. This win also places the Hoosiers just one positive result shy of tying last season's overall win total.

"It's about this team," Chaplin said. "We are winning as a team, not as individuals this year, and we will try to keep that going for the rest of the season."